The outcome of the trial is not known, but since it was a capital crime to practice magic, and Apuleius can be located in Carthage five or six years after his trial of
A.D. 158 or 159, one can safely infer that he was acquitted. St. Augustine reports that certain factions in Oea (modern Tripoli in Libya), where the events for which he was tried were alleged to have occurred, opposed the erection of a statue in Apuleius's honor, and he may have fled this hostile environment to spend the last years of his life in Carthage, the principal city in Africa Proconsularis and the place where he had attended school.
The Apologia is a virtuoso performance in the mold of the oratorical road shows of the Greek sophists that were popular in the second and third centuries. It also functions effectively both as a defense against specific criminal charges and as a defense of philosophy. In Apuleius's own words, "I undertake the defense not only of myself but truly that of philosophy as well." The charges, again in Apuleius's words, are, "We accuse him .
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